Facilitating compensation arrangements providing for data tracking components

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for data brokering, and more specifically, data brokering regarding a data provider&#39;s search-related activities, are described. In particular implementations, various aspects of facilitating a compensation arrangement between a data provider and a data consumer regarding one or more data-provider-related search activities, including aspects of arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a data tracking component related to at least one user interface associated with the data provider, are described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

1. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/217,138 entitled FACILITATING COMPENSATIONARRANGEMENTS FOR DATA BROKERING filed on Jun. 30, 2008, and naming GaryW. Flake, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, William Henry Mangione-Smith,Richard F. Rashid, Clarence T. Tegreene, and Lowell L. Wood, Jr. asinventors, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of whicha currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of thefiling date.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published anotice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require thatpatent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate whether anapplication is a continuation or continuation in part. Stephen G. Kunin,Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTO Electronic Official Gazette,Mar. 18, 2003. The present applicant entity has provided a specificreference to the application(s) from which priority is being claimed asrecited by statute. Applicant entity understands that the statute isunambiguous in its specific reference language and does not requireeither a serial number or any characterization such as “continuation” or“continuation-in-part.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant entityunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence applicant entity is designating the presentapplication as a continuation in part of its parent applications, butexpressly points out that such designations are not to be construed inany way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or notthe present application contains any new matter in addition to thematter of its parent application(s). All subject matter of the RelatedApplications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Applications is incorporated herein byreference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistentherewith.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to data brokering, and morespecifically, to facilitating compensation arrangements that provide fordata tracking components.

BACKGROUND

Individuals that engage in on-line activities, such as on-linesearch-related activities, typically generate information that may havevalue to other entities. Such information has often been surreptitiouslymonitored and gathered by various interested parties who, in turn, maymake use of the information for commercial purposes (e.g. advertising).

SUMMARY

The present disclosure teaches systems and methods for data brokering,and more specifically, data brokering regarding a data provider'ssearch-related activities. In particular implementations, the presentdisclosure teaches aspects of facilitating a compensation arrangementbetween a data provider and a data consumer regarding one or moredata-provider-related search activities, including arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the dataprovider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a representative environment for brokeringdata in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary computing device configuredto operate in accordance with another implementation of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of brokering data in accordance withanother implementation of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4 through 9 are flowcharts of methods of facilitating acompensation arrangement between a data provider and a data consumerthat provide for data tracking components in accordance with furtherimplementations of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques for brokering data regarding a data provider's search-relatedactivities are disclosed. In the following detailed description, manyspecific details of certain implementations are described and shown inFIGS. 1 through 9 to provide a thorough understanding of suchimplementations. One skilled in the art will understand, however, thatthe present disclosure may have other possible implementations, and thatsuch other implementations may be practiced with or without some of theparticular details set forth in the following description.

In the following discussion, an exemplary environment 100 forimplementing one or more of the teachings of the present disclosure isdescribed. Next, an exemplary computing device 200 for implementing oneor more of the teachings of the present disclosure is described,followed by a description of various possible implementations ofprocesses for data brokering in accordance with various implementationsof the present disclosure.

Exemplary Environment

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a representative environment 100 inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. In thisimplementation, the environment 100 includes one or more data providers110, and one or more data consumers 170 who use the data generated bythe data providers 110. In general, the data (or data products)generated by the data providers 110 may include a wide variety ofinformation, including keywords, phrases, search terms, UniversalResource Locator (URL) data, browsing history, eyeballing history, timeand quantity information, selection history, affinity-relatedinformation, health-related information, consumer-related information,personal-characteristic information, corporate (or other businessentity) information, and any other suitable information.

The data providers 110 may include a variety of different providers andprovider types. For example, in various implementations, the dataproviders 110 may include an individual 111, a group of individuals 112,an entity 113, a group of entities 114, a device 115, or a group ofdevices 116. In general, virtually any individual, entity, device, orgroups thereof, may be a member of the data providers 110. For example,in various implementations, the individual 111 (or group of individuals112) may include a computer user, consumer, person from a particulardemographic group (e.g. age, gender, race, profession, religion,orientation, preference, geographic area, etc.), a particular bellwetheror trendsetting individual (e.g. individual with popular ideas ortastes, athlete, performing artist, etc.), or any other suitable person.

Similarly, in various implementations, the entity 113 (or group ofentities 114) may include a professional organization (e.g. Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American AutomobileAssociation (AAA), American Association of Retired Persons (AARP),etc.), company, university, union (e.g. United Auto Workers (UAW),International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, etc.), consumer group (e.g.members of Costco®, Sam's Club®, Starwood®, etc.), club, association,(e.g. Boy Scouts of America, etc.), or any other suitable type ofentity. Also, in various implementations, the device 115 (or group ofdevices 116) may include, for example, a computer, networking device,processor, personal communication device, or any other suitable type ofdevice. Of course, other individuals, entities, and devices that mayserve as data providers 110 may be conceived. More specifically, inparticular implementations, any individual, entity, or device whose datamay serve as an indicator of future consumption may suitably qualifysuch individual, entity, or device as a data provider 110.

The data consumers 170 may also include a variety of different consumersand consumer types. For example, in some specific implementations, thedata consumers 170 may include advertisers or marketers 172, searchproviders 174, scientific researchers 175, consumers of data analyses176, product or service developers 178, or any other data consumers 179.Data consumers 170 may also include any and all of the individuals,entities, and devices (or groups thereof) referenced above as dataproviders 110, or any other suitable types of data consumers. It will beappreciated that the data providers 110 and the data consumers 170 arenot necessarily mutually exclusive groups, and that an entity may insome instances be a data provider, and in other instances a dataconsumer, or may even be both at the same time.

As further shown in FIG. 1, a data broker 130 operatively communicateswith the one or more data providers 110 and the one or more dataconsumers 170. In some implementations, the data broker 130 may includeone or more components that are operable to perform various functionsand operations associated with the data broker 130. For example, thedata broker 130 may include a data storage component 132, anarrangements component 134, an analysis component 135, a management andenforcement component 136, a compensation component 138, and anauctioning component 139. It will be appreciated that the components ofthe data broker 130 shown in FIG. 1 are merely exemplary, and representa possible implementation of the data broker 130. The functions andoperations of the components 132-139 of the data broker 130 will bedescribed more fully below with reference to FIGS. 3 through 9.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 1, the various components 132-139 ofthe data broker 130 may communicate and exchange information as neededto perform the functions and operations described herein. In variousimplementations, each of the components 132-139 may be implemented usingsoftware, hardware, firmware, or any suitable combinations thereof. Itwill be appreciated that in alternate implementations of the data broker130, one or more of the components 132-139 of the data broker 130 may becombined, or may be divided or separated into additional components, oradditional components may be added, or one or more of the components132-139 may simply be eliminated, depending upon the particularrequirements or specifications of the operating environment. Anexemplary computing device 200 for carrying out one or more of thefunctions and operations of the environment 100 is described in thefollowing section.

Exemplary Computing Device

In some implementations, one or more of the components of the exemplaryenvironment 100 shown in FIG. 1 may be at least partially implementedusing a computing device. For example, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of anexemplary computing device 200 configured to operate in accordance withan implementation of the present disclosure. As described below, thecomputing device 200 can be configured to perform one or more of thefunctions and operations associated with the environment 100 shown inFIG. 1, and more specifically, one or more of the functions andoperations associated with the data broker 130, or the one or morecomponents 132-139 of the data broker 130.

As shown in FIG. 2, in some implementations, the computing device 200may include one or more processors (or processing units) 202, specialpurpose circuitry 282, a memory 204, and a bus 206 that couples varioussystem components including the memory 204 to the one or more processors202 and special purpose circuitry 282. The bus 206 represents one ormore of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory busor memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port,and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of busarchitectures. In this implementation, the memory 204 includes read onlymemory (ROM) 208 and random access memory (RAM) 210. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) 212, containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within the computing device200, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 208.

The exemplary computing device 200 further includes a hard disk drive214 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), and isconnected to the bus 206 via a hard disk driver interface 216 (e.g., aSCSI, ATA, or other type of interface). A magnetic disk drive 218 forreading from and writing to a removable magnetic disk 220, is connectedto the system bus 206 via a magnetic disk drive interface 222.Similarly, an optical disk drive 224 for reading from or writing to aremovable optical disk 226 such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other opticalmedia, connected to the bus 206 via an optical drive interface 228. Thedrives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatilestorage of computer readable instructions, data structures, programmodules and other data for the computing device 200. Although theexemplary computing device 200 described herein employs a hard disk, aremovable magnetic disk 220 and a removable optical disk 226, it shouldbe appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computerreadable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer,such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks,random access memories (RAMs) read only memories (ROM), and the like,may also be used.

As further shown in FIG. 2, a number of program modules may be stored onthe memory 204 (e.g. the ROM 208 or the RAM 210) including an operatingsystem 230, one or more application programs 232, other program modules234, and program data 236. Alternately, these program modules may bestored on other computer-readable media, including the hard disk, themagnetic disk 220, or the optical disk 226. For purposes ofillustration, programs and other executable program components, such asthe operating system 230, are illustrated in FIG. 2 as discrete blocks,although it is recognized that such programs and components reside atvarious times in different storage components of the computing device200, and may be executed by the processor(s) 202 or the special purposecircuitry 282 of the computing device 200.

A user may enter commands and information into the computing device 200through input devices such as a keyboard 238 and a pointing device 240.Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, gamepad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devicesare connected to the processing unit 202 and special purpose circuitry282 through an interface 242 that is coupled to the system bus 206. Amonitor 244 or other type of display device is also connected to the bus206 via an interface, such as a video adapter 246. In addition to themonitor, the computing device 200 may also include other peripheraloutput devices (not shown) such as speakers and printers.

The computing device 200 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers (or servers) 258,such as those operated by one or more of the data providers 110 and dataconsumers 170 shown in FIG. 1. Such remote computers (or servers) 258may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peerdevice or other common network node, and may include many or all of theelements described above relative to computing device 200. The logicalconnections depicted in FIG. 2 (and in FIG. 1) may include one or moreof a local area network (LAN) 248 and a wide area network (WAN) 250.Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-widecomputer networks, intranets, and the Internet. In this embodiment, thecomputing device 200 also includes one or more broadcast tuners 256. Thebroadcast tuner 256 may receive broadcast signals directly (e.g., analogor digital cable transmissions fed directly into the tuner 256) or via areception device (e.g., via an antenna, a satellite dish, etc.).

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing device 200 maybe connected to the local network 248 through a network interface (oradapter) 252. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computingdevice 200 typically includes a modem 254 or other means forestablishing communications over the wide area network 250, such as theInternet. The modem 254, which may be internal or external, may beconnected to the bus 206 via the serial port interface 242. Similarly,the computing device 200 may exchange (send or receive) wireless signals253 with one or more remote computers (or servers) 258, such as thoseoperated by one or more of the data providers 110 and data consumers170, using a wireless interface 255 coupled to a wireless communicator257 (e.g., an antenna, a satellite dish, a transmitter, a receiver, atransceiver, a photoreceptor, a photodiode, an emitter, a receptor,etc.).

In a networked environment (e.g. environment 100 of FIG. 1), programmodules depicted relative to the computing device 200, or portionsthereof, may be stored in the memory 204, or in a remote memory storagedevice. More specifically, as further shown in FIG. 2, a data brokercomponent 280 may be stored in the memory 204 of the computing device200. The data broker component 280 may include an implementation of thedata broker 130 of FIG. 1, or one or more components 132-139 of the databroker 130. The data broker component 280 may be implemented usingsoftware, hardware, firmware, or any suitable combinations thereof. Incooperation with the other components of the computing device 200, suchas the processing unit 202 or the special purpose circuitry 282, thedata broker component 280 may be operable to perform one or moreimplementations of processes for data brokering in accordance with thepresent disclosure. More specifically, the computing device 200 may beoperable to perform one or more implementations of methods of brokeringdata, as described more fully below.

Exemplary Processes for Data Brokering

Exemplary processes for brokering data regarding a data provider'ssearch-related activities will now be described. For convenience, and tofacilitate an understanding of these processes, the exemplary processeswill be described with reference to the exemplary environment 100 andexemplary computing device 200 described above.

Referring again to FIG. 1, communications (or interactions) 120 may beexchanged between the data broker 130 and the one or more data providers110. Such communications 120 may be exchanged via any suitablecommunications systems. For example, in some implementations thecommunications 120 may be exchanged via one or more of telephony (e.g.using the public switched telephone system), the internet (e.g., Voiceover Internet Protocol), cellular telephone systems, satellitecommunication systems, instant messaging, text messaging, electronicmail (“email”), facsimiles, written communications, or any othersuitable communications systems. Further, the communications 120 may beaccomplished using any suitably operable couplings between the databroker 130 and the one or more data providers 110, including physicalconnections (e.g. wires, cables, fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wirelessconnections (e.g. radio-frequency connections between cell phone andcell network towers, satellite towers, etc.) and/or some combination ofphysical connections and wireless connections, and may be accomplishedusing one or more components of the computing device 200, such as thenetwork interface 252, the wireless interface 255, the serial portinterface 242, or any other suitable components (e.g. interfaces 216,222, 228).

The communications 120 may include, for example, negotiation activities(e.g. offers, rejections, counteroffers, terms, conditions, provisions,etc.) which may lead to the establishment of one or more data provisionagreements between the data providers 110 and the data broker 130. Thecommunications 120 may also include communications relating toperformance of established data provision agreements, including, forexample, data transmissions, data receptions, access records,compensation exchanges, accounting exchanges, or any other suitablecommunications (or interactions) relating to data brokering.

Similarly, communications (or interactions) 150 between the data broker130 and the one or more data consumers 170 may include, for example,negotiation activities (e.g. offers, rejections, counteroffers, terms,conditions, provisions, etc.) which may lead to the establishment of oneor more data use agreements between the data providers 110 and the databroker 130. Also, the communications 150 may include communicationsrelating to performance of established data use agreements, including,for example, data transmissions, data receptions, access records,compensation exchanges, accounting exchanges, or any other suitablecommunications (or interactions) relating to data brokering.

Again, such communications 150 may be exchanged via any suitablecommunications systems. For example, in some implementations thecommunications 150 may be exchanged via one or more of telephony (e.g.using the public switched telephone system), the internet (e.g., Voiceover Internet Protocol), cellular telephone systems, satellitecommunication systems, instant messaging, text messaging, electronicmail (“email”), facsimiles, written communications, or any othersuitable communications systems. Further, the communications 150 may beaccomplished using any suitably operable couplings between the databroker 130 and the one or more data consumers 170, including physicalconnections (e.g. wires, cables, fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wirelessconnections (e.g. radio-frequency connections between cell phone andcell network towers, satellite towers, etc.) and/or some combination ofphysical connections and wireless connections, and may be accomplishedusing one or more components of the computing device 200, such as thenetwork interface 252, the wireless interface 255, the serial portinterface 242, or any other suitable components (e.g. interfaces 216,222, 228).

As noted above, the data broker 130 may include one or more componentsthat are operable to perform various functions and operations associatedwith the data broker 130. More specifically, in the exemplaryimplementation of the data broker 130 shown in FIG. 1, the data broker130 includes a data storage component or repository 132, an arrangementscomponent 134, an analysis component 135, a management and enforcementcomponent 136, a compensation component 138, and an auctioning component139. Of course, in alternate implementations, one or more of thesecomponents 132-139 may be combined, separated into additionalcomponents, or eliminated, or additional components may be added,depending upon the particular requirements or specifications of theoperating environment.

Various exemplary functionalities of the components 132-139 of theexemplary data broker 130 will now be described. It should beappreciated that the exemplary functionalities described below may bedesirable in some implementations but not in others, and that unlessotherwise specified, such exemplary functionalities are non-essential,and may be varied or omitted depending upon the desired operatingcharacteristics of the implementation, or the particular requirements orspecifications of the operating environment.

In some implementations, the data storage component 132 may be operableto receive and store data provided by the data providers 110. Forexample, in some implementations, the data provided by the dataproviders 110 may be included as part of the communications 120described above. Furthermore, the data provided by the data providers110 may be provided in any suitable form, including electrical signals,optical signals, acoustic signals, electromagnetic signals, modulatedsignals (e.g. frequency or amplitude modulated signals, etc.), binarysignals, tabulated data, data records, data summaries, or any othersuitable forms, and may be provided using any suitable communicationmedia, including physical media (e.g. wires, cables, optical connectors,CD's, DVD's, printed or written data, etc.) non-physical transmissionmedia (e.g. wireless transmissions), or any other suitable communicationsystems or methods.

The data storage component 132 may organize the data by type, profile,data provider, value, or using any other suitable organizationalstructure. In some implementations, the data storage component 132 mayperform verification activities, including monitoring and analyzingincoming data to ensure verity (e.g. accuracy, authenticity, etc.) ofthe information provided by the data providers 110.

In some implementations, the data storage component 132 storesadditional information relating to the communications 120, 150 betweenthe data broker 130 and the data providers 110 and the data consumers170. For example, the data storage component 132 may store informationrelating to the functions and operations of any of the other components134-139 of the data broker 130, including, for example, negotiationactivities (e.g. offers, rejections, counteroffers, terms, conditions,provisions, etc.), established data provision agreements and data useagreements (e.g. terms and conditions regarding access, compensation,privacy, quality, quantity, usage, rights and restrictions, etc.), andinformation relating to performance of such established agreements (e.g.data transmissions, data receptions, access records, compensationexchanges, accounting exchanges, etc.). Various aspects of possiblefunctions and operations of the other components 134-139 of the databroker 130 that may be stored within the data storage component 132 aredescribed below.

Similarly, the arrangements component 134 may be operable to perform avariety of functions and operations associated with the data broker 130via the communications 120, 150 between the data broker 130 and the dataproviders 110 and the data consumers 170. For example, in someimplementations, the arrangements component 134 may be operable toperform negotiations of data brokering arrangements, including one ormore of data provision agreements with data providers 110, or data useagreements with data consumers 170.

More specifically, in some implementations, the arrangements component134 may be operable to create proposals, propose terms, receive offersto provide data, receive offers to consume data, receive requests fordata analyses, identify potential data providers, identify potentialdata consumers, and perform other functions and operations associatedwith making arrangements with the data providers 110, the data consumers170, or both. Additional aspects of data brokering that may benegotiated or performed by the arrangements component 134 are describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 3 through 9.

The analysis component 135 (FIG. 1) may also be operable to perform avariety of functions and operations associated with the data broker 130.For example, the analysis component 135 may be operable to perform ananalysis or simulation using one or more components of the computingdevice 200 (e.g. the processing unit 202, the special purpose circuitry282, the memory 204, the application programs 232, the program modules234, the program data 236, etc.).

More specifically, in some implementations, the analysis component 135may be operable to perform a desired analysis or simulation in responseto a request by one or more of the data consumers 170 (or the dataproviders 110, or the data broker 130), such as to test a theory, todetermine a potential value of data, to develop or validate a new modelor hypothesis, to filter or glean relevant data from a quantity of rawdata, or to perform any other suitable analysis or simulation. Forexample, the analysis component 135 may, at the request of one or moreof the data consumers 170 (or the data providers 110, or the data broker130) perform desired analyses or simulations, including mathematicalmanipulations of the data (e.g. interpolations, extrapolations,correlations, data fitting analyses, linear regressions, mathematicalcombinations, statistical analyses, Fourier analyses, Bayesian analyses,time-series analyses, etc.), model validation activities, model testactivities, model development activities of suitable models (e.g.marketing models, consumption models, business models, economic models,etc.) that may use the data provided by the data providers 110.

The management and enforcement component 136 (FIG. 1) may be operable tomonitor a performance of one or more of the data providers 110, the databroker 130, and the data consumers 170, in accordance with thearrangements established by the arrangements component 134. In someimplementations, the management and enforcement component 136 maymonitor performance by analyzing the communications 120 between the dataproviders 110 and the data broker 130, or the communications 150 betweenthe data broker 130 and the data consumers 170. In otherimplementations, the management and enforcement component 136 maymonitor the operations of one or more of the other components of thedata broker 130 (e.g. the data storage component 132, the analysiscomponent 135, the compensation component 138, etc.).

More specifically, the management and enforcement component 136 mayperform one or more monitoring functions (e.g. access requests, trafficvolumes, access periods, access volumes, consumer and provideridentities, hits, usage rates, provision rates, etc.), recordkeepingfunctions (e.g. access requests, traffic volumes, access periods, accessvolumes, consumer and provider identities, hits, usage rates, provisionrates, etc.), access control functions (e.g. data rights management,license terms, restrictions on usage, privacy and confidentialityprovisions, etc.), notification functions including transmitting alerts,warnings, reminders, and notices regarding terms and conditions of databrokering agreements (e.g. usage rates and limits, provision rates andlimits, spending rates and limits, quality assurance, usagerestrictions, privacy restrictions, etc.), or any other suitablefunctions in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreementsestablished between the parties.

The functions and operations of the management and enforcement component136 may be performed using software (e.g. traffic monitoring software,speed monitoring software, transfer rates recorder, bandwidth usagesoftware, keystroke monitoring, etc.) that monitors, records, orcaptures upload and download activities (e.g. at one or more interfacesof a computing device 200, at the processor 202, at the memory 204,etc.), hardware (e.g. counters, meters, network cards, circuitry, etc.),firmware, or any suitable combination thereof.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the compensation component 138 maybe operable to determine the various amounts of compensation due fromone or more of the data consumers 170, or to determine the variousamounts of compensation owing to on or more of the data providers 110,or both. For example, the compensation component 138 may be operable todetermine compensation due or owing using one or more components of thecomputing device 200 (e.g. the processing unit 202, the special purposecircuitry 282, the memory 204, the application programs 232, the programmodules 234, the program data 236, etc.).

In some implementations, the compensation component 138 may receiveinstructions or information to be used in determining compensation dueor owing from one or more other components of the data broker 130. Forexample, in some implementations, the compensation component 138 mayreceive terms or instructions regarding compensation established by thearrangements component 134 (or the auctioning component 139). Similarly,the compensation component 138 may receive performance information fromone or more other components of the data broker 130, includingperformance information from the management and enforcement component136, the data storage component 132, the analysis component 135, or anyother suitable component. In further implementations, the compensationcomponent 138 may be operable to manage and implement a variety ofcompensation types, including upfront compensation, future compensation,contingent or conditional compensation, royalty-based compensation,auctioning-based compensation, non-monetary compensation, or any othersuitable types of compensation. The compensation determined by thecompensation component 138 may be provided by one or more of thecommunications 120 between the data providers 110 and the data broker130, or the communications 150 between the data broker 130 and the dataconsumers 170.

The auctioning component 139 (FIG. 1) may be operable to performfunctions and operations associated with the auctioning of data. Forexample, in some implementations, the auctioning component 139 mayfunction in a manner substantially similar to the arrangements component134, but may be operable to do so in an auctioning format. Theauctioning component 139 may be operable to perform a variety offunctions and operations associated with the data broker 130 via thecommunications 120, 150 between the data broker 130 and the dataproviders 110 and the data consumers 170. For example, in someimplementations, the auctioning component 139 may be operable to performnegotiations of data brokering arrangements, including one or more ofarranging or negotiating data provision agreements with data providers110 via the communications 120, or arranging or negotiating data useagreements with data consumers 170 via the communications 150.

In some implementations, the auctioning component 139 may be operable tooffer data products to a plurality of potential data consumers, toreceive bids for use of the data, to evaluate the bids, to negotiate theterms and conditions, and to perform any other suitable auction-relatedfunctions. The auctioning component 139 may also be configured to createproposals, propose terms, receive offers to provide data, receive offersto consume data, receive requests for data analyses, identify potentialdata providers, identify potential data consumers, perform negotiationsof one or more of data provision agreements and data use agreements, andperform other functions and operations associated with makingarrangements with the data providers 110 and the data consumers 170.

Additional aspects of data brokering processes in accordance withvarious possible implementations of the present disclosure will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 3 through 9. For ease ofunderstanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initialflowchart (FIG. 3) presents an overall “big picture” viewpoint, andthereafter the following flowcharts present possible particularimplementations and/or expansions of the “big picture” flowcharts aseither sub-steps or additional steps building on one or moreearlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overallview and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details insubsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and efficientunderstanding of the various process instances.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of brokering data 300 in accordancewith another implementation of the present disclosure. In thisimplementation, the method 300 includes facilitating a compensationarrangement between a data provider and a data consumer regarding one ormore data-provider-related search activities at 310. Generally,facilitating a compensation arrangement between a data provider and adata consumer regarding one or more data-provider-related searchactivities (at 310) may be accomplished using the communications 120between the data providers 110 and the data broker 130, or thecommunications 150 between the data broker 130 and the data consumer170, or both. Additionally, in some implementations, facilitating acompensation arrangement between a data provider and a data consumerregarding one or more data-provider-related search activities (at 310)may be accomplished via one or more of telephony (e.g. using the publicswitched telephone system), the internet (e.g., Voice over InternetProtocol), cellular telephone systems, satellite communication systems,instant messaging, text messaging, electronic mail (“email”),facsimiles, written communications, or any other suitable communicationssystems.

Furthermore, facilitating a compensation arrangement between a dataprovider and a data consumer regarding one or more data-provider-relatedsearch activities (at 310) may be accomplished using any suitablyoperable couplings between the data broker 130 and the one or more dataproviders 110 and data consumers 170, including physical connections(e.g. wires, cables, fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wireless connections(e.g. radio-frequency connections between cell phone and cell networktowers, satellite towers, etc.) and/or some combination of physicalconnections and wireless connections, and may be accomplished usingcomputing devices (e.g. computing device 200, servers, laptops,mainframes, personal data assistants, cell phones, etc.), or using oneor more components of such devices (e.g. processers 202, special purposecircuitry 282, application programs 232, other program modules 234,program data 236, network interface 252, wireless interface 255, serialport interface 242, other interfaces 216, 222, 228, etc.). In someimplementations, facilitating a compensation arrangement between a dataprovider and a data consumer regarding one or more data-provider-relatedsearch activities (at 310) may be performed by the data broker 130, ormore specifically by one or more components of the data broker 130 (e.g.the arrangements component 134, the auctioning component 139, etc.).

At 320, the method 300 includes providing a data product to the dataconsumer in accordance with the compensation arrangement. Generally,providing a data product to the data consumer in accordance with thecompensation arrangement (at 320) may be accomplished using thecommunications 120 between the data providers 110 and the data broker130, the communications 150 between the data broker 130 and the dataconsumers 170, or both. Additionally, in some implementations, providinga data product to the data consumer in accordance with the compensationarrangement (at 320) may be accomplished via one or more of telephony(e.g. using the public switched telephone system), the internet (e.g.,Voice over Internet Protocol), cellular telephone systems, satellitecommunication systems, instant messaging, text messaging, electronicmail (“email”), facsimiles, written communications, or any othersuitable communications systems.

Furthermore, providing a data product to the data consumer in accordancewith the compensation arrangement (at 320) may be accomplished using anysuitably operable couplings between the data broker 130 and the one ormore data providers 110 and data consumers 170, including physicalconnections (e.g. wires, cables, fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wirelessconnections (e.g. radio-frequency connections between cell phone andcell network towers, satellite towers, etc.) and/or some combination ofphysical connections and wireless connections, and may be accomplishedusing computing devices (e.g. computing device 200, servers, laptops,mainframes, personal data assistants, cell phones, etc.), or using oneor more components of such devices (e.g. processers 202, special purposecircuitry 282, application programs 232, other program modules 234,program data 236, network interface 252, wireless interface 255, serialport interface 242, other interfaces 216, 222, 228, etc.). In someimplementations, providing a data product to the data consumer inaccordance with the compensation arrangement may be performed by thedata broker 130, or more specifically, by one or more components of thedata broker 130 (e.g. the data storage component 132, the arrangementscomponent 134, the management and enforcement component 136, theauctioning component 139, etc.).

As further shown in FIG. 3, in some implementations, the method 300 mayinclude monitoring a performance of the data consumer at 330. Generally,monitoring a performance of the data consumer (at 330) may be performedusing software (e.g. traffic monitoring software, speed monitoringsoftware, transfer rates recorder, bandwidth usage software, keystrokemonitoring, etc.) that monitors, records, or captures upload anddownload activities (e.g. at one or more interfaces of a computingdevice 200, at the processor 202, at the memory 204, etc.), hardware(e.g. counters, meters, network cards, circuitry, etc.), firmware, orany suitable combination thereof. More specifically, monitoring aperformance of the data consumer (at 330) may include one or more ofmonitoring (e.g. access requests, traffic volumes, access periods,access volumes, consumer and provider identities, hits, usage rates,provision rates, etc.), recordkeeping (e.g. access requests, trafficvolumes, access periods, access volumes, consumer and provideridentities, hits, usage rates, provision rates, etc.), access control(e.g. data rights management, license terms, restrictions on usage,privacy and confidentiality provisions, etc.), notification (e.g.transmitting alerts, warnings, reminders, notices, rates and limits,quality assurance, restrictions, etc.), capturing, or any other suitablefunctions in accordance with the terms and conditions of one or more ofthe agreements established between the parties.

In some implementations, monitoring a performance of the data consumer(at 330) may be accomplished using the communications 120 between thedata providers 110 and the data broker 130, the communications 150between the data broker 130 and the data consumers 170, or both. Inother implementations, monitoring a performance of the data consumer (at330) may be accomplished by monitoring one or more of the othercomponents of the data broker 130, such as, for example, the datastorage component 132, the analysis component 135, the compensationcomponent 138, or any other suitable components.

Additionally, monitoring a performance of the data consumer (at 330) maybe accomplished via one or more of telephony (e.g. using the publicswitched telephone system), the internet (e.g., Voice over InternetProtocol), cellular telephone systems, satellite communication systems,instant messaging, text messaging, electronic mail (“email”),facsimiles, written communications, or any other suitable communicationssystems, and may be accomplished using any suitably operable couplingsbetween the data broker 130 and the one or more data providers 110 anddata consumers 170, including physical connections (e.g. wires, cables,fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wireless connections (e.g. radio-frequencyconnections between cell phone and cell network towers, satellitetowers, etc.) and/or some combination of physical connections andwireless connections, and may be accomplished using computing devices(e.g. computing device 200, servers, laptops, mainframes, personal dataassistants, cell phones, etc.), or using one or more components of suchdevices (e.g. processers 202, special purpose circuitry 282, applicationprograms 232, other program modules 234, program data 236, networkinterface 252, wireless interface 255, serial port interface 242, otherinterfaces 216, 222, 228, etc.).

At 340, the method 300 may include receiving compensation from the dataconsumer in accordance with the compensation arrangement. In someimplementations, receiving compensation from the data consumer inaccordance with the compensation arrangement (at 340) may beaccomplished using electronic (wire or wireless) transfers of funds,electronic payments, credits and debit transactions, transmittals ofchecks or other negotiable instruments, or any other suitable methods ofcompensation exchange. In some implementations, receiving compensationfrom the data consumer in accordance with the compensation arrangement(at 340) may be accomplished using the communications 150 between thedata broker 130 and the data consumers 170. More specifically, thecompensation may be received from the data consumer by the data broker130, or by one or more components of the data broker 130 (e.g. themanagement and enforcement component 136, the compensation component138, the arrangements component 134, the auctioning component 139, orany other suitable component).

Additionally, receiving compensation from the data consumer inaccordance with the compensation arrangement (at 340) may beaccomplished via one or more of telephony (e.g. using the publicswitched telephone system), the internet (e.g., Voice over InternetProtocol), cellular telephone systems, satellite communication systems,instant messaging, text messaging, electronic mail (“email”),facsimiles, written communications, or any other suitable communicationssystems, and may be accomplished using any suitably operable couplingsbetween the data broker 130 and the one or more data providers 110 anddata consumers 170, including physical connections (e.g. wires, cables,fiber-optic lines, etc.), or wireless connections (e.g. radio-frequencyconnections between cell phone and cell network towers, satellitetowers, etc.) and/or some combination of physical connections andwireless connections, and may be accomplished using computing devices(e.g. computing device 200, servers, laptops, mainframes, personal dataassistants, cell phones, etc.), or using one or more components of suchdevices (e.g. processers 202, special purpose circuitry 282, applicationprograms 232, other program modules 234, program data 236, networkinterface 252, wireless interface 255, serial port interface 242, otherinterfaces 216, 222, 228, etc.).

At 350, the method 300 may include compensating the data provider inaccordance with the compensation arrangement. Again, in someimplementations, compensating the data provider in accordance with thecompensation arrangement (at 350) may be accomplished using electronic(wire or wireless) transfers of funds, electronic payments, credits anddebit transactions, transmittals of checks or other negotiableinstruments, or any other suitable methods of compensation exchange. Insome implementations, compensating the data provider in accordance withthe compensation arrangement (at 350) may be accomplished using thecommunications 120 between the data broker 130 and the data providers110. More specifically, the compensation may be provided to the dataprovider by the data broker 130, or by one or more components of thedata broker 130 (e.g. the management and enforcement component 136, thecompensation component 138, the arrangements component 134, theauctioning component 139, or any other suitable component).

Additionally, compensating the data provider in accordance with thecompensation arrangement (at 350) may be accomplished via one or more oftelephony (e.g. using the public switched telephone system), theinternet (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol), cellular telephonesystems, satellite communication systems, instant messaging, textmessaging, electronic mail (“email”), facsimiles, writtencommunications, or any other suitable communications systems, and may beaccomplished using any suitably operable couplings between the databroker 130 and the one or more data providers 110 and data consumers170, including physical connections (e.g. wires, cables, fiber-opticlines, etc.), or wireless connections (e.g. radio-frequency connectionsbetween cell phone and cell network towers, satellite towers, etc.)and/or some combination of physical connections and wirelessconnections, and may be accomplished using computing devices (e.g.computing device 200, servers, laptops, mainframes, personal dataassistants, cell phones, etc.), or using one or more components of suchdevices (e.g. processers 202, special purpose circuitry 282, applicationprograms 232, other program modules 234, program data 236, networkinterface 252, wireless interface 255, serial port interface 242, otherinterfaces 216, 222, 228, etc.).

It will be appreciated that the facilitating a compensation arrangementbetween a data provider and a data consumer regarding one or moredata-provider-related search activities (at 310) of the method 300 ofFIG. 3, may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, FIGS. 4through 9 are flowcharts of various possible implementations offacilitating a compensation arrangement between a data provider and adata consumer regarding one or more data-provider-related searchactivities that provide for data tracking components.

In an implementation 400 shown in FIG. 4, facilitating a compensationarrangement between a data provider and a data consumer regarding one ormore data-provider-related search activities (at 310 of FIG. 3) mayinclude arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider at 402. In some implementations, arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the data provider(at 402) may be accomplished through a variety of computer tracking andsurveillance techniques.

For example, in some implementations, surveillance softwareapplications, including commercially-available software applications(e.g. products from Spectorsoft Corp., IdeaTalent, LLC, Microsoft®BizTalk Server Toolkit, etc.) or customized software applications, maybe installed on a data provider's computing device that monitor andrecord a data provider's activities (e.g. interaction history, machinestate, Web interactions, keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails,etc.). In other implementations, arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component related to atleast one user interface associated with the data provider (at 402) maybe accomplished by monitoring of data traffic into and out of a computeror network (e.g. using “packet sniffing”) without actually beinginstalled on a data provider's computing device. For example, packetsniffing may include receiving data transmissions (e.g. along a portionof a LAN, WAN, intranet, internet, etc.) from a data provider that arebound for another destination, and processing those data transmissionsto determine information regarding a data provider's activities. Oneexample of a suitable packet sniffing monitoring application is the“Carnivore” system implemented by the U.S. Federal Bureau ofInvestigation.

In other implementations, arranging for compensation to be received fromthe data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider (at 402) may be accomplishedthrough detection and analysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy,acoustical energy, magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation,line conduction, acoustic emissions etc.) which disclose informationtransmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by a computer orany other information-processing equipment. Such detection and analysisof emanations may also include those surveillance technologies generallyreferred to as “TEMPEST” technologies.

In other implementations, arranging for compensation to be received fromthe data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider (at 402) may be accomplishedusing physical (hardware) surveillance devices (or “bugs”). For example,some physical surveillance devices may detect, record, or broadcast adata provider's activities (e.g. a keystroke logger implanted incircuitry inside a keyboard, devices inserted portions of a computingdevice, video cameras, sensors, detectors, etc.).

As further shown in FIG. 4, in some implementations, arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the data provider(at 402) may include arranging for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a cookie at 404. As used herein, the term “cookies” generally refersto parcels of data (e.g. that may be sent by a server to a web client,such as a browser), which can be used for tracking a data provider'sactivities (e.g. browsing behavior, session tracking, state maintenance,etc.), and maintaining specific user-related information (e.g. sitepreferences, contents of electronic shopping carts, etc.).

In other implementations, arranging for compensation to be received fromthe data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider (at 402) may includearranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a persistentuser profile at 406. A persistent user profile may include informationregarding a user of a computer that is stored, for example, by anoperating system (e.g. Windows XP Professional, etc.) and which can beused for tracking a data provider's activities.

In further implementations, arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider (at 402) may includearranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of an applicationat 408. As noted above, exemplary applications suitable for this purposemay include commercially-available software applications (e.g. productsfrom Spectorsoft Corp., IdeaTalent, LLC, Microsoft® BizTalk ServerToolkit, etc.) or customized software applications, and may be installedon a data provider's computing device that monitor and record a dataprovider's activities (e.g. interaction history, machine state, Webinteractions, keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails, etc.).

In still other implementations, arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component related to atleast one user interface associated with the data provider (at 402) mayinclude arranging for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of auser-data-monitoring interactive web application related to the dataprovider at 410. Again, as noted above, exemplary user-data-monitoringinteractive web applications suitable for this purpose may includecommercially-available software applications (e.g. products fromSpectorsoft Corp., IdeaTalent, LLC, Microsoft® BizTalk Server Toolkit,etc.) or customized software applications, and may be installed on adata provider's computing device that monitor and record a dataprovider's activities (e.g. interaction history, machine state, Webinteractions, keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails, etc.).Additionally, such user-data-monitoring interactive web applications maymonitor data traffic into and out of a computer or network using “packetsniffing” (e.g. “Carnivore”) without actually being installed on a dataprovider's computing device.

More specifically, arranging for compensation to be received from a dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of auser-data-monitoring interactive web application related to the dataprovider (at 410) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of at least one of a scripting language application, a JavaScriptapplication, an applet, a Java applet, or an AJAX (asynchronousJavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (XML)) application at 412. Ofcourse, in further implementations, additional embodiments ofuser-data-monitoring interactive web applications may be conceived.

It will be appreciated that data tracking components may be provided,implemented, or positioned in any suitable locations within theenvironment 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, in an implementation430, arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider (at 402) may include arranging for compensationto be received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component loaded on amachine associated with a specific user at 432. As noted above, in someimplementations, a variety of surveillance software applications may beinstalled onto a data provider's machine (e.g. computing device, server,communication equipment, etc.). Additionally, in other implementations,surveillance devices (e.g. bugs) can be installed onto a data provider'smachine (e.g. computing device, keyboard, etc.).

Similarly, in some implementations, arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component related to atleast one user interface associated with the data provider (at 402) mayinclude arranging for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component loaded on a machine associated with a specific user'semployer at 434. Again, in some implementations, a variety ofsurveillance software applications and surveillance devices may beinstalled onto a machine (e.g. computing device, server, communicationequipment, keyboard, etc.).

In further implementations, arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider (at 402) may includearranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor an aspect of the dataprovider's activities at 436. For example, in some implementations,arranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor an aspect of the dataprovider's activities (at 436) may include arranging for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity at 438. As noted above,in some implementations, applications or devices may be installed on adata provider's computing device to monitor and record a data provider'sactivities (e.g. interaction history, machine state, Web interactions,keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails, etc.), or by accessinginformation stored on a data provider's computing device (e.g. cookies,persistent user profile, etc.), or by remotely monitoring a dataprovider's activities using, for example, packet sniffing, monitoringdevices (e.g. video cameras, sensors, etc.), or through detection andanalysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy, acoustical energy,magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation, line conduction,acoustic emissions etc).

As further shown in FIG. 5, in some implementations, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor anaffinity-related activity including at least one of a sports affinityactivity, a religious affinity activity, a music affinity activity, aliterature affinity activity, a theater affinity activity, a filmaffinity activity, a television program affinity activity, a hobbyaffinity activity, a service affinity activity, or a product affinityactivity at 440. As noted above, in some implementations, applicationsor devices may be installed on a data provider's computing device tomonitor and record a data provider's activities (e.g. interactionhistory, machine state, Web interactions, keylogging, screenshots, textmessages, emails, etc.), or by accessing information stored on a dataprovider's computing device (e.g. cookies, persistent user profile,etc.), or by remotely monitoring a data provider's activities using, forexample, packet sniffing, monitoring devices (e.g. video cameras,sensors, etc.), or through detection and analysis of emanations (e.g.electrical energy, acoustical energy, magnetic-field radiation,electric-field radiation, line conduction, acoustic emissions etc).

In other implementations, arranging for compensation to be received froma data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor an affinity-related activity and to pair an aspectof the affinity-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider at 440. Similarly, in some implementations, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor anaffinity-related activity and to pair an aspect of the affinity-relatedactivity with an aspect of a presumed profile of the data provider at444. For example, in particular implementations, the affinity-relatedactivities may be paired with one or more of the following possibleaspects of the profile (actual or presumed) of the data provider:gender, age, education, race, geographic location, nationality, economicstatus, employment status, or any other suitable profile aspects.

With reference to FIG. 6, in another implementation 450, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor ahealth-related activity including at least one of an ailment-relatedactivity, a condition-related activity, a disease-related activity, atreatment-related activity, a prevention-related activity, adiet-related activity, an exercise-related activity, a mental-healthrelated activity, or a wellness-related activity at 452. As noted above,in some implementations, applications or devices may be installed on adata provider's computing device to monitor and record a data provider'sactivities (e.g. interaction history, machine state, Web interactions,keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails, etc.), or by accessinginformation stored on a data provider's computing device (e.g. cookies,persistent user profile, etc.), or by remotely monitoring a dataprovider's activities using, for example, packet sniffing, monitoringdevices (e.g. video cameras, sensors, etc.), or through detection andanalysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy, acoustical energy,magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation, line conduction,acoustic emissions etc).

In further implementations, arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a health-related activity and to pair an aspect ofthe health-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider at 454 Similarly, in some implementations, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor ahealth-related activity and to pair an aspect of the health-relatedactivity with an aspect of a presumed profile of the data provider at456. In particular implementations, for example, the health-relatedactivities may be paired with one or more of the following possibleaspects of the profile (actual or presumed) of the data provider:gender, age, education, race, geographic location, nationality, economicstatus, employment status, or any other suitable profile aspects.

As shown in FIG. 7, in an implementation 460, arranging for compensationto be received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may includearranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor a consumer-related activityincluding at least one of a purchasing-related activity, aspending-related activity, an income-related activity, acredit-worthiness-related activity, a subscription-related activity, anordering-related activity, a shopping-related activity, abrowsing-related activity, a credit card-related activity, a debitcard-related activity, a check writing-related activity, adelivery-related activity, a coupon-related activity, aselling-method-related activity, an offering-related activity, apromotional-event-related activity, or an advertising-related activityat 462. As noted above, in some implementations, applications or devicesmay be installed on a data provider's computing device to monitor andrecord a data provider's activities (e.g. interaction history, machinestate, Web interactions, keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails,etc.), or by accessing information stored on a data provider's computingdevice (e.g. cookies, persistent user profile, etc.), or by remotelymonitoring a data provider's activities using, for example, packetsniffing, monitoring devices (e.g. video cameras, sensors, etc.), orthrough detection and analysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy,acoustical energy, magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation,line conduction, acoustic emissions etc).

In some implementations, arranging for compensation to be received froma data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a consumer-related activity and to pair an aspectof the consumer-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider at 464 In further implementations, arranging for compensationto be received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may includearranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor a consumer-related activity andto pair an aspect of the consumer-related activity with an aspect of apresumed profile of the data provider at 466. For example, in particularimplementations, the consumer-related activities may be paired with oneor more of the following possible aspects of the profile (actual orpresumed) of the data provider: gender, age, education, race, geographiclocation, nationality, economic status, employment status, or any othersuitable profile aspects.

With reference to FIG. 8, in another implementation 470, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor apersonal-characteristic-related activity including at least one of anage-related activity, a gender-related activity, a race-relatedactivity, an income-related activity, a geographic location-relatedactivity, a marital status-related activity, an education-relatedactivity, an employment-related activity, a sexual orientation-relatedactivity, a cultural-related activity, a personalitycharacteristic-related activity, or a demographic-related activity at472. As noted above, in some implementations, applications or devicesmay be installed on a data provider's computing device to monitor andrecord a data provider's activities (e.g. interaction history, machinestate, Web interactions, keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails,etc.), or by accessing information stored on a data provider's computingdevice (e.g. cookies, persistent user profile, etc.), or by remotelymonitoring a data provider's activities using, for example, packetsniffing, monitoring devices (e.g. video cameras, sensors, etc.), orthrough detection and analysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy,acoustical energy, magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation,line conduction, acoustic emissions etc).

In some implementations, arranging for compensation to be received froma data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a personal-characteristic-related activity and topair an aspect of the personal-characteristic-related activity with anaspect of a profile of the data provider at 472. In furtherimplementations, arranging for compensation to be received from a dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of adata tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging for compensationto be received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor a personal-characteristic-related activity and to pair an aspectof the personal-characteristic-related activity with an aspect of apresumed profile of the data provider at 474. In particularimplementations, for example, the personal-characteristic-relatedactivities may be paired with one or more of the following possibleaspects of the profile (actual or presumed) of the data provider:gender, age, education, race, geographic location, nationality, economicstatus, employment status, or any other suitable profile aspects.

As shown in FIG. 9, in yet another implementation 480, arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity (at 438) may include arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom a data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor a businessentity-related activity including at least one of an employment-relatedactivity, a management-related activity, a marketing-related activity, asales-related activity, a plan-related activity, a profit-relatedactivity, a loss-related activity, an asset-related activity, aliability-related activity, an inventory-related activity, and anoverhead-related activity at 482. As noted above, in someimplementations, applications or devices may be installed on a dataprovider's computing device to monitor and record a data provider'sactivities (e.g. interaction history, machine state, Web interactions,keylogging, screenshots, text messages, emails, etc.), or by accessinginformation stored on a data provider's computing device (e.g. cookies,persistent user profile, etc.), or by remotely monitoring a dataprovider's activities using, for example, packet sniffing, monitoringdevices (e.g. video cameras, sensors, etc.), or through detection andanalysis of emanations (e.g. electrical energy, acoustical energy,magnetic-field radiation, electric-field radiation, line conduction,acoustic emissions etc).

In some implementations, arranging for compensation to be received froma data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a business entity-related activity and to pair anaspect of the business entity-related activity with an aspect of aprofile of the data provider at 482. In further implementations,arranging for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity (at 438) may include arranging for compensationto be received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor a business entity-related activity and to pair an aspect of thebusiness entity-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile ofthe data provider at 484. In particular implementations, for example,the business entity-related activities may be paired with one or more ofthe following possible aspects of the profile (actual or presumed) ofthe data provider: gender, age, education, race, geographic location,nationality, economic status, employment status, or any other suitableprofile aspects.

It should be appreciated that the particular embodiments of processesdescribed herein are merely possible implementations of the presentdisclosure, and that the present disclosure is not limited to theparticular implementations described herein and shown in theaccompanying figures. For example, in alternate implementations, certainacts need not be performed in the order described, and may be modified,and/or may be omitted entirely, depending on the circumstances.Moreover, in various implementations, the acts described may beimplemented by a computer, controller, processor, programmable device,or any other suitable device, and may be based on instructions stored onone or more computer-readable media or otherwise stored or programmedinto such devices. In the event that computer-readable media are used,the computer-readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by a device to implement the instructions stored thereon.

Various methods, systems, and techniques have been described herein inthe general context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, executed by one or more processors or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various alternateembodiments. In addition, embodiments of these methods, systems, andtechniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computerreadable media.

It may also be appreciated that there may be little distinction betweenhardware and software implementations of aspects of systems and methodsdisclosed herein. The use of hardware or software may generally be adesign choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs, however, incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that thereare various vehicles by which processes, systems, and technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, orcombinations thereof), and that a preferred vehicle may vary dependingupon the context in which the processes, systems, and technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle. Alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. In still otherimplementations, the implementer may opt for some combination ofhardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possiblevehicles by which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologiesdescribed herein may be effected, and which may be desired over anothermay be a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will bedeployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, orpredictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilledin the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations willtypically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate suchdescribed devices and/or processes into workable systems having thedescribed functionality. That is, at least a portion of the devicesand/or processes described herein can be developed into a workablesystem via a reasonable amount of experimentation.

The herein described aspects and drawings illustrate differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected” or “operablycoupled” (or “operatively connected,” or “operatively coupled”) to eachother to achieve the desired functionality, and any two componentscapable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operablycouplable” (or “operatively couplable”) to each other to achieve thedesired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable includebut are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of theembodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in standard integratedcircuits, and also as one or more computer programs running on one ormore computers, and also as one or more software programs running on oneor more processors, and also as firmware, as well as virtually anycombination thereof. It will be further understood that designing thecircuitry and/or writing the code for the software and/or firmware couldbe accomplished by a person skilled in the art in light of the teachingsand explanations of this disclosure.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. For example, in someembodiments, several portions of the subject matter described herein maybe implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs),Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors(DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the artwill recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure.

In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that themechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that anillustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein appliesequally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedia include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable typemedia such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, andcomputer memory; and transmission type media such as digital and analogcommunication links using TDM or IP based communication links (e.g.,packet links).

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention isdefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” used, in general such aconstruction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art wouldunderstand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B,or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, Balone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together,and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).

As a further example of “open” terms in the present specification andclaims, it will be understood that usage of a language construction “Aor B” is generally interpreted as a non-exclusive “open term” meaning: Aalone, B alone, and/or A and B together.

Although various features have been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments arepossible. Therefore, the spirit or scope of the appended claims shouldnot be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:facilitating a compensation arrangement between a data provider and adata consumer regarding one or more data-provider-related searchactivities, wherein the facilitating the compensation arrangementbetween the data provider and the data consumer regarding the one ormore data-provider-related search activities includes: a) arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the dataprovider, wherein the at least one of installation or access of the datatracking component includes at least one of installation or access of adata counter of data from the data tracking component; and b) performingan analysis to determine a potential value of the data, wherein thepotential value is at least partially based on how the data isorganized; and wherein at least one of the facilitating, arranging, orperforming is at least partially implemented using one or moreprocessing devices.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a cookie.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider comprises: arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a persistent user profile. 4.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the data providercomprises: arranging for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of anapplication.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a user-data-monitoring interactive webapplication related to the data provider.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 5, wherein arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a user-data-monitoring interactive web application relatedto the data provider comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of at least one of a scripting languageapplication, a JavaScript application, an applet, a Java applet, or anAJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (XML))application.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component loaded on amachine associated with a specific user.
 8. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider comprises: arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentloaded on a machine associated with a specific user's employer.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentrelated to at least one user interface associated with the data providercomprises: arranging for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of or accessof the data tracking component configured to monitor an aspect of thedata provider's activities.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim9, wherein arranging for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of adata tracking component configured to monitor an aspect of the dataprovider's activities comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: arranging for compensation to be received from thedata consumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of oraccess of the data tracking component configured to monitor anaffinity-related activity including at least one of a sports affinityactivity, a religious affinity activity, a music affinity activity, aliterature affinity activity, a theater affinity activity, a filmaffinity activity, a television program affinity activity, a hobbyaffinity activity, a service affinity activity, or a product affinityactivity.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor an affinity-related activity and to pair an aspect of theaffinity-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor an affinity-related activity and to pair an aspect of theaffinity-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile of thedata provider.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a health-related activity including at least one of anailment-related activity, a condition-related activity, adisease-related activity, a treatment-related activity, aprevention-related activity, a diet-related activity, anexercise-related activity, a mental-health related activity, or awellness-related activity.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim10, wherein arranging for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of or accessof the data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a health-related activity and to pair an aspect of thehealth-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a health-related activity and to pair an aspect of thehealth-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile of the dataprovider.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a consumer-related activity including at least one of apurchasing-related activity, a spending-related activity, anincome-related activity, a credit-worthiness-related activity, asubscription-related activity, an ordering-related activity, ashopping-related activity, a browsing-related activity, a creditcard-related activity, a debit card-related activity, a checkwriting-related activity, a delivery-related activity, a coupon-relatedactivity, a selling-method-related activity, an offering-relatedactivity, a promotional-event-related activity, or anadvertising-related activity.
 18. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 10, wherein arranging for compensation to be received from thedata consumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of oraccess of the data tracking component configured to monitor at least oneof an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity comprises: arranging forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a consumer-related activity and to pair an aspectof the consumer-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a consumer-related activity and to pair an aspect of theconsumer-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile of thedata provider.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a personal-characteristic-related activity including at leastone of an age-related activity, a gender-related activity, arace-related activity, an income-related activity, a geographiclocation-related activity, a marital status-related activity, aneducation-related activity, an employment-related activity, a sexualorientation-related activity, a cultural-related activity, a personalitycharacteristic-related activity, or a demographic-related activity. 21.The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: arranging for compensation to be received from thedata consumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of oraccess of the data tracking component configured to monitor apersonal-characteristic-related activity and to pair an aspect of thepersonal-characteristic-related activity with an aspect of a profile ofthe data provider.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 10,wherein arranging for compensation to be received from the data consumerin exchange for the at least one of installation of or access of thedata tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a personal-characteristic-related activity and to pair an aspectof the personal-characteristic-related activity with an aspect of apresumed profile of the data provider.
 23. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 10, wherein arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for the at least one of installationof or access of the data tracking component configured to monitor atleast one of an affinity-related activity, a health-related activity, aconsumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-related activity,or a business entity-related activity comprises: arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentconfigured to monitor a business entity-related activity including atleast one of an employment-related activity, a management-relatedactivity, a marketing-related activity, a sales-related activity, aplan-related activity, a profit-related activity, a loss-relatedactivity, an asset-related activity, a liability-related activity, aninventory-related activity, or an overhead-related activity.
 24. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein arranging forcompensation to be received from the data consumer in exchange for theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: arranging for compensation to be received from thedata consumer in exchange for the at least one of installation of oraccess of the data tracking component configured to monitor a businessentity-related activity and to pair an aspect of the businessentity-related activity with an aspect of a profile of the dataprovider.
 25. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, whereinarranging for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for the at least one of installation of or access of the datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: arranging for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component configured tomonitor a business entity-related activity and to pair an aspect of thebusiness entity-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile ofthe data provider.
 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: providing a data product to the data consumer inaccordance with the compensation arrangement.
 27. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring aperformance of the data consumer.
 28. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving compensation from the dataconsumer in accordance with the compensation arrangement.
 29. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: compensatingthe data provider in accordance with the compensation arrangement.
 30. Anon-transitory signal-bearing medium bearing one or more instructionsthat, when executed by an executing component, perform a methodcomprising: facilitating a compensation arrangement between a dataprovider and a data consumer regarding one or more data provider-relatedsearch activities, including arranging for compensation to be receivedfrom the data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation ofor access of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider, wherein the at least one ofinstallation of or access of the data tracking component includes atleast one of installation of or access of a data counter of data fromthe data tracking component; and performing an analysis to determine apotential value of the data, wherein the potential value is at leastpartially based on how the data is organized.
 31. A system, comprising:an executing component; a memory operatively coupled to the executingcomponent; and an arrangements component accessible by the executingcomponent, the arrangements component being operable to facilitate acompensation arrangement between a data provider and a data consumerregarding one or more data-provider-related search activities, and thearrangements component being operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component related to atleast one user interface associated with the data provider, wherein theat least one of installation of or access of the data tracking componentincludes at least one of installation of or access of a data counter ofdata from the data tracking component, the arrangements component beingoperable to arrange for an analysis to determine a potential value ofthe data, wherein the potential value is at least partially based on howthe data is organized, and wherein at least one of the executingcomponent, the memory, or the arrangements component is at leastpartially implemented using hardware.
 32. The system of claim 31,wherein the executing component comprises: at least one of a computer, acontroller, a processor, a programmable device, an application specificintegrated circuits (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or adigital signal processor (DSP).
 33. The system of claim 31, wherein thememory comprises: at least one of a random access memory (RAM), a readonly memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), aflash memory, a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk(DVD), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a cassette,a tape, a magnetic disk, a paper storage medium, or a punch card. 34.The system of claim 31, wherein the arrangements component beingoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of adata tracking component related to at least one user interfaceassociated with the data provider comprises: a component operable toarrange for compensation to be received from a data consumer in exchangefor at least one of installation of or access of a cookie.
 35. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the arrangements component being operable toarrange for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a persistent user profile. 36.The system of claim 31, wherein the arrangements component beingoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of adata tracking component related to at least one user interfaceassociated with the data provider comprises: a component operable toarrange for compensation to be received from a data consumer in exchangefor at least one of installation of or access of an application.
 37. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the arrangements component being operable toarrange for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a user-data-monitoringinteractive web application related to the data provider.
 38. The systemof claim 31, wherein the arrangements component being operable toarrange for compensation to be received from the data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component related to at least one user interface associatedwith the data provider comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of at least one of a scriptinglanguage application, a JavaScript application, an applet, a Javaapplet, or an AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML)) application.
 39. The system of claim 31, wherein thearrangements component being operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from the data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component related to atleast one user interface associated with the data provider comprises: acomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component loaded on a machine associated with aspecific user.
 40. The system of claim 31, wherein the arrangementscomponent being operable to arrange for compensation to be received fromthe data consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of oraccess of a data tracking component related to at least one userinterface associated with the data provider comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component loaded on a machine associated with a specific user'semployer.
 41. The system of claim 31, wherein the arrangements componentbeing operable to arrange for compensation to be received from the dataconsumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or access of adata tracking component related to at least one user interfaceassociated with the data provider comprises: a component operable toarrange for compensation to be received from a data consumer in exchangefor at least one of installation of or access of a data trackingcomponent configured to monitor an aspect of the data provider'sactivities.
 42. The system of claim 41, wherein the component operableto arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumer inexchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor an aspect of the dataprovider's activities comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity.
 43. The system of claim 42, wherein the component operable toarrange for compensation to be received from a data consumer in exchangefor at least one of installation of or access of a data trackingcomponent configured to monitor at least one of an affinity-relatedactivity, a health-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: a component operable to arrange for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity including at leastone of a sports affinity activity, a religious affinity activity, amusic affinity activity, a literature affinity activity, a theateraffinity activity, a film affinity activity, a television programaffinity activity, a hobby affinity activity, a service affinityactivity, or a product affinity activity.
 44. The system of claim 42,wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity and to pair an aspect of the affinity-relatedactivity with an aspect of a profile of the data provider.
 45. Thesystem of claim 42, wherein the component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: a component operable to arrange for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity and to pair anaspect of the affinity-related activity with an aspect of a presumedprofile of the data provider.
 46. The system of claim 42, wherein thecomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of a health-related activityincluding at least one of an ailment-related activity, acondition-related activity, a disease-related activity, atreatment-related activity, a prevention-related activity, adiet-related activity, an exercise-related activity, a mental-healthrelated activity, or a wellness-related activity.
 47. The system ofclaim 42, wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of ahealth-related activity and to pair an aspect of the health-relatedactivity with an aspect of a profile of the data provider.
 48. Thesystem of claim 47, further comprising: the component operable toarrange for compensation configured to determine different levels ofcompensation due based at least partially on the data tracking componentconfigured to monitor health related activities paired with one or morepossible aspects of the profile of the data provider.
 49. The system ofclaim 48, wherein the health related activities includes exerciserelated activities and wherein the one or more possible aspects of theprofile of the data provider includes age.
 50. The system of claim 42,wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of ahealth-related activity and to pair an aspect of the health-relatedactivity with an aspect of a presumed profile of the data provider. 51.The system of claim 42, wherein the component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: a component operable to arrange for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of a consumer-related activity including at leastone of a purchasing-related activity, a spending-related activity, anincome-related activity, a credit-worthiness-related activity, asubscription-related activity, an ordering-related activity, ashopping-related activity, a browsing-related activity, a creditcard-related activity, a debit card-related activity, a checkwriting-related activity, a delivery-related activity, a coupon-relatedactivity, a selling-method-related activity, an offering-relatedactivity, a promotional-event-related activity, or anadvertising-related activity.
 52. The system of claim 42, wherein thecomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of a consumer-related activity and topair an aspect of the consumer-related activity with an aspect of aprofile of the data provider.
 53. The system of claim 42, wherein thecomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of a consumer-related activity and topair an aspect of the consumer-related activity with an aspect of apresumed profile of the data provider.
 54. The system of claim 42,wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of apersonal-characteristic-related activity including at least one of anage-related activity, a gender-related activity, a race-relatedactivity, an income-related activity, a geographic location-relatedactivity, a marital status-related activity, an education-relatedactivity, an employment-related activity, a sexual orientation-relatedactivity, a cultural-related activity, a personalitycharacteristic-related activity, or a demographic-related activity. 55.The system of claim 42, wherein the component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, ahealth-related activity, a consumer-related activity, apersonal-characteristic-related activity, or a business entity-relatedactivity comprises: a component operable to arrange for compensation tobe received from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of a personal-characteristic-related activity andto pair an aspect of the personal-characteristic-related activity withan aspect of a profile of the data provider.
 56. The system of claim 42,wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of apersonal-characteristic-related activity and to pair an aspect of thepersonal-characteristic-related activity with an aspect of a presumedprofile of the data provider.
 57. The system of claim 42, wherein thecomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of a business entity-related activityincluding at least one of an employment-related activity, amanagement-related activity, a marketing-related activity, asales-related activity, a plan-related activity, a profit-relatedactivity, a loss-related activity, an asset-related activity, aliability-related activity, an inventory-related activity, or anoverhead-related activity.
 58. The system of claim 42, wherein thecomponent operable to arrange for compensation to be received from adata consumer in exchange for at least one of installation of or accessof a data tracking component configured to monitor at least one of anaffinity-related activity, a health-related activity, a consumer-relatedactivity, a personal-characteristic-related activity, or a businessentity-related activity comprises: a component operable to arrange forcompensation to be received from a data consumer in exchange for atleast one of installation of or access of a data tracking componentconfigured to monitor at least one of a business entity-related activityand to pair an aspect of the business entity-related activity with anaspect of a profile of the data provider.
 59. The system of claim 42,wherein the component operable to arrange for compensation to bereceived from a data consumer in exchange for at least one ofinstallation of or access of a data tracking component configured tomonitor at least one of an affinity-related activity, a health-relatedactivity, a consumer-related activity, a personal-characteristic-relatedactivity, or a business entity-related activity comprises: a componentoperable to arrange for compensation to be received from a data consumerin exchange for at least one of installation of or access of a datatracking component configured to monitor at least one of a businessentity-related activity and to pair an aspect of the businessentity-related activity with an aspect of a presumed profile of the dataprovider.
 60. The system of claim 31, further comprising: a componentoperable to provide a data product to the data consumer in accordancewith the compensation arrangement.
 61. The system of claim 31, furthercomprising: a component operable to monitor a performance of the dataconsumer.
 62. The system of claim 31, further comprising: a componentoperable to receive compensation from the data consumer in accordancewith the compensation arrangement.
 63. The system of claim 31, furthercomprising: a component operable to compensate the data provider inaccordance with the compensation arrangement.